We last interviewed Antoinette Rouverand in 2011 when she worked for publishing house Hachette. Now Marketing Director for Éditions JC Lattès, she continues to publish extracts of upcoming books on Calaméo. The ability to publish extracts privately and easily share them online and on social networks plays an important role in marketing new titles.

“Éditions JC Lattès publishes literature from several countries, as well as essays and other documents, therefore attracting a vast and varied readership. We also house the collection Le Masque, which offers a catalogue of contemporary detective novels, in addition to a number of classics, such as works by Agatha Christie.”

Éditions JC Lattès and Le Masque also publish two collections for young adults: MSK, fantasy novels aimed at young people aged 15-25, and &moi, a new adult romance collection for girls aged 18-30:

We asked Antoinette how digital publishing developments have changed the way books are marketed for them and their readers.

“Much of our communication takes place on social networks. Being able to offer extracts online to share via Facebook for example is an effective way to introduce a new book, as an alternative to picking it up in a bookshop. This is particularly pertinent given the age of our readers.”

The advantage of marketing upcoming titles online in this way is the possibility of viral marketing – creating a buzzon social networks, encouraging people to share the extracts with their friends online, and ultimately gaining a maximum exposure for new books.

Like a trailer for a film, distributing extracts gives readers a taste of a new title – making them want to read on and buy the book.

As well as using Calaméo to facilitate the online sharing of extracts, Antoinette makes use of the private publishing feature. She uses the option to make extracts available to a select audience via a private URL for certain marketing campaigns, such as creating an incentive for their followers to share their Facebook posts – for a chance to win a sneak preview of a new title.

Similarly, these exclusive extracts are used to encourage subscription to their newsletter, with extracts initially being distributed only to those subscribed. This proved to be enormously successful in the marketing campaign surrounding the much-anticipated release of the Fifty Shades of Grey sequel, Grey,by E L James, in July.

JC Lattès published a pre-release extract of Grey privately on Calaméo, which was distributed via their newsletter. The extract had 58,500 views – and even reached 11,374 views in just one day!